Me, my thoughts and my life

I seem to go through phases with bananas. Sometimes I like them and sometimes I don’t. I can literally go for months without eating or wanting a banana. I think part of it has to do with how ripe they are. I like them best just before they are ripe and are still slightly firm. As for banana flavoring I can’t stand it ever.

The point of this seemingly random ramble about bananas is that I found a smoothie recipe that is amazing!! I don’t know where the recipe is posted on the web, and all that is going around Pintrest is the photo.

I have made this smoothie twice now and love it so much that I bought 4 bananas tonight so that I can enjoy it all next week too. Now again I don’t measure 100%. For the 1/2 cup yogurt I use a small container of vanilla probiotic yogurt. With the peanut butter, honey and milk I just guess.

My smoothie maker is a single serve size, which I love (thanks mom!!). Taking the limited size into account I have learned to put the solid ingredients in first, then the creamy ones and finally the liquid. This order allows for maximum contents. I think one of the next times I make this smoothie I will add some cocoa powder and make it a chocolate peanut butter smoothie.

What I am currently reading: Intimate Enemiesby Joan Swan

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As I was making the recipe for this post I realized that I approach cooking and baking in totally different ways. With baking I have to measure precisely and rarely deviate from the recipe. When cooking after I make a dish once according to the directions I tend to eyeball amounts and make modifications for my personal taste.

I found this recipe through Pintrest and loved the idea so “pinned” it for later reference. The original recipe came from Real Simple and can be found here. Now I don’t really like onions so I almost always leave that ingredient out of all recipes. I also prefer Turkey Sausage to Chicken Sausage and I didn’t have fresh grated Parmesan Cheese so I used the “powdered” stuff. Ok, let’s get started.

First, get the pasta started. I like to boil the water before adding the noodles. Also, I usually throw in a pinch of salt every time I make pasta but forgot tonight. Anyway….while the water is boiling start sauteing the onion (if you are using onion). If you aren’t using onion (like me) cut up the sausage and brown.

On the recipe oil is used with the onion so to help the sausage I added just a dollop of oil to the sausage. Also, the turkey sausage has less fat than other sausage so the oil helps with the browning (at least I think it does but I am not a professional chef).

After the sausage has browned to your satisfaction add in the broccoli and a little bit of water. I added less than the recipe called for but I was not looking to make a sauce with the remaining liquid just to steam the broccoli. I used all of the broccoli that I cut during my Prep Day about 2 weeks ago.

Cover the broccoli and sausage mixture and let the broccoli steam to your desired tenderness. I am rather impatient so I removed the cover and stirred everything up a few times.

After the broccoli is tender turn off the heat and add the cooked noodles and Parmesan cheese. I love cheese so I added more than the recipe called for. Also, I have noticed that the “powdered” stuff has less flavor than the fresh grated. Mix everything together and serve. Keeping in mind that I didn’t measure anything this made me dinner tonight and 3 servings of leftover for lunch or dinner next week. If I am not planning on eating these within the next 3 or 4 days I freeze the leftovers and put them in the fridge the night before I take it for lunch.

What I am currently reading: Slow Burn by E.B Walters

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I had heard about it for a few years but never tried it. It is fairly pricy which is a deterrent. Then last year my friends, Allison and Vicki, introduced me to the Melting Pot during Orlando’s Magical Dining Month (every September). During the month select restaurants around Orlando offer limited menus for $33 per person. It is a great way to be able to try restaurants you otherwise may not be able to afford.

Anyway back to Melting Pot. After my first visit my friends and I signed up for their “Fondue Club.” So every month or so we get an email telling us the specials going on. Often they have some really good multi course specials that make it affordable. Tonight was one of those specials. It was Service Industry Night. For $26 (base price, the specialty meat courses were more) Allison and I each got 4 courses and spent a relaxing hour or so chatting.

Fiesta Cheddar

These preset specials always begin with a cheese course. One of our favorites is Fiesta Cheddar and we have started asking for extra veggies (what’s better than veggies and melted cheese?). Recently Melting Pot has added tortilla chips as a dipper so it turns into chips and queso (one of my all time favorite foods). the second course is a salad followed by the main course of protein. Each of the Melting Pot’s options have 3 to 4 different proteins, usually a mix of land and sea. Now, I don’t eat seafood; of any kind. I have tried it multiple times and just don’t like it, but the good news is that Melting Pot lets you substitute!! The meat course is served with 6 different sauces, green goddess, Gorgonzola, angry cocktail, teriyaki, creamy curry and a plum sauce that tastes like sweet and sour.

Flaming Turtle

The last course (and the best!) is the Chocolate course!!! This time we got the Flaming Turtle. So far every time Allison and I have gone we have gotten a different chocolate (there are like 10 different ones). Last time we got cookies and cream, thee first time it was Ying Yang and we have also tried S’mores. I don’t have a favorite yet but then again it is chocolate.

What I am currently reading:Slow Burn by E.B. Walters

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They help keep your anticipation high and they help you remember various things you may otherwise forget. I am currently counting down to 6 different events and the closer I get to each event the more excited I am and the more things I think of to add to my list (yes I make lots of lists and I am definitely a planner).

10 days to MI!!

My closest event is my trip home to Michigan in 10 days. While I have most of this trip already planned and coordinated with my friends and family I keep thinking of little things I need to remember (presents, keys, things I miss and want to do). Of course, on the other side of the coin I also think of little things to worry about (will my rides remember to pick me up?, did I forget someone that I want to see?).

Less than a month after I get back from home one of my best friends is coming to Florida for a visit!! I am soooo excited! We are going to have girls’ night every night since she is staying with me. Our friends from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale are coming too so it will be a whole week of fun!!

My longest countdown ever is currently at 796 days. My suite-mate (and really really good friend) from college is getting married Halloween 2015. While I am not in the wedding (at least I don’t think I am) this is going to take a lot of planning. Not only is she planning a destination wedding but there will also be costumes involved. Now the travel part doesn’t phase me (I work in hospitality and am addicted to travel) but the costume thing does. While I love fiction and Disney I don’t really do the whole dress up/pretend thing. I annoyed my sister when we were little because I was always more interested in organizing my Barbie things than actually playing with them.

What I am currently reading: Slow Burnby E.B. Walters

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Tonight I got to chat with one of my British friends. Since she moved back to England in April we haven’t really gotten to talk much ( I suppose if you want to be technical we didn’t talk tonight either since we used WhatsApp to text). During our conversation I realized how much technology has allowed out world to “shrink” or at least become more accessible. At the same time there is still so much of it that I have yet to see and want to visit.

During the conversation I stated to think about how many international friends and acquaintances I have. If we modified the “Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game I bet I could find a connection to almost every continent. Personally (1st degree) I have friends in England, Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, Australia and India not to mention all of my friends and family here in the US and Canada. If I start to factor in all of their connections and the degree of connection expands so does the map (so is the world getting smaller or bigger?).

Then I started thinking that the internet and Social Media are also bringing the world to all of us. One of my favorite accounts on Twitter is Tweets by @ThatsEarth. Everyday they post pictures from around the world. So I, a girl in Orlando, FL, gets to see pictures daily from Greece, Africa, Italy, the Caribbean and many other place (does this make the world smaller or bigger?). Facebook also allows me to keep up with my friends. Like me a lot of my friends are addicted to travel so through their posts I have been able to “experience” their travels as well. So far this year several of my friends have taken tours of Europe, moved back to their country, and visited more countries that I know about.

Finally I considered less technological resources like libraries, museums and theme parks (I live in the world of Mickey Mouse, remember?). In museums you can find art work from around the world all displayed in one place. In one day you can soak up culture from other countries and different time periods without leaving the building. Libraries also allow exploration. Within the pages of books you can explore other times and places, the past, present and future, both real and imagined. There is no limit. At theme parks like Epcot there are pavilions that spotlight other cultures. Their food, drink, traditional clothing, natural wonders, traditions and people. Did you know that the people who work in Epcot’s pavilions tend to be from that country?

So, do all of these things emphasize what a Big Wide World we live in or, is it just “A Small World After All”?

What I am currently reading:So far this weekend I have read Bridegroom Wore Plaidby Grace Burrowes, The Ghost Pirate’s Treasureby Barbara Ivie Green, Pink Slips and Glass Slippersby J.P Hansen and will start Deadly Offerings by Alexa Grace. All of these were free Kindle books that I found through Ebook Impresario.
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... the musings of a BARELY thirty-something, married, Southern librarian with a wildly inappropriate sense of humor, an inability to gauge most emotional cues, a dear best friend since ninth grade, and a stubborn, mouthy, redheaded country boy to accompany her through life.